


Vertigo

by sidespirk



Series: Prompts & Drabbles [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Cadet Spock, Gen, OC's based on an unreleased script, Oneshot, Starfleet Academy, also spock being a vegan activist, why vulcan's don't eat with their hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-26 12:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18180662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidespirk/pseuds/sidespirk
Summary: My headcanon on why Vulcan’s don’t like touching their foods as explained by Cadet Spock.





	Vertigo

**Author's Note:**

> T rating for mild bullying and homophobia.

 

His sensitive hearing picked up the tumult of juvenile voices and computerized sound effects several meters before the door to his dorm slid open.

“There’s only three of ‘em left!” said Demetri Vlahos, his unruly roommate.

 _Ahhh! No! I’ve been hit!_  A disembodied voice he didn’t recognize ensued.

“Pay attention earthlings, I’m about to show you how it’s done!” Spock fully entered the room and with great distaste observed Cadet Kalibar, who was currently seated on his bed, yell out as he manipulated a holo controller in each hand and attempted (rather inaccurately) to emulate the mechanism of reloading a 21st-century firearm.

 _You bunch of pink skins don’t stand a chance!_  Another disembodied voice echoed from the two cadet’s earpieces but this time Spock recognized it as belonging to the Andorian Cadet Endilev whom he’d had also the displeasure of encountering previously in his dormitory on a number of occasions. In most of these incidents, however, he didn’t seem as interested in occupying himself with hologames but with the methodical study of Vlahos’ human anatomy.

_Guys, chopper attack incoming!_

“Vlahos, I believed we had established a rotation system for the individual utilization of our quarters,” said Spock, raising his voice so it could exceed all the noise.

The cadet momentarily looked away from the diffracted light field in front of him. “Hey, Spock!” he exclaimed into his general direction but quickly returned his focus to the game ahead. “Copy that. Everyone take cover!” he said into his mouthpiece. A sound of metallic blades in fast revolution reverberated followed by repeated outbursts of explosions.

“Shit! We’re dead!” Kalibar detached his headcomm and launched it across the room. “It was your fault, Vlahos. Rounds are on you tonight.”

“Yeah… Sure, Kalibar…” Vlahos disengaged his own holo system and elevated his hands above his midsection in a gesture Spock could only attribute to surrender. “No problem…” He finally fully turned to Spock. “Sorry, man, the campaign ran a little longer than I expected.” The cadet stood up and started collecting various consumable items of the nearby surfaces to deposit them on the recycler. “Hey, there’s still some Jack Link’s left, I can leave them out for you,” he said as he picked up a half-empty bowl and extended towards Spock.

“I am not familiar with that variety of food.”

“You never had beef jerky?” said Kalibar as he stood from Spock’s bed but only to walk menacingly in his direction. “Well, then it’s your lucky day,” the large cadet continued as he snatched the bowl from his roommate’s grasp and entered Spock’s personal space.

“Vulcan’s do not eat with their hands nor consume animal products.” Spock was 16 terran years of age but he was already taller than most of his peers. To his dismay, the particular fellow student now towering him was not of those individuals.

“These things are rarely made with real meat anymore.” Kalibar thrust the bowl into his abdomen and as pieces of food rattled inside the plastic utensil and fell onto the floor he was trapped against the adjacent wall. “And your hand’s not gonna fall off if you do it once.”

“I do not find myself in need of sustenance,” Spock said, fists balling at his sides.

“You know, Spocky, you think you’re so superior with your big words and that ramrod up your ass. Why did you even come to this planet if you’re so much better than all of us?”

“It’s illogical to assume my current intellectual advantage can be also applied to the entirety of earth’s inhabitants.”

“Did you just… called me stupid?” If Spock was human he would have laughed at the confusion painting his assailant’s face.

“Can one really take offense when they do not fully comprehend that which was accredited to them?” Spock felt the bowl press harder into him and Kalibar emitted a sound that was very close to a snarl.

“You’re asking for it, half-breed.”

“Leave him alone, man.” In his peripheral vision, Spock noticed Vlahos getting closer to them. “Let’s head out to the bar, rounds on me remember?” The cadet placed his hand on the other’s shoulder but Kalibar turned around shaking him off with such strength that Vlahos lost his footing and tumbled into the ground.

“Shut your cock sucking hole, Vlahos,” Kalibar shouted at the boy on the floor. Spock had noticed most civilized planets allied under the Federation had long extinguished its gender-biased patriarchal roots. Kalibar’s planet, however, remained illogically primitive in its world view. “If you don’t make some concessions,” the cadet continued after focusing on him once more and closing his hand around Spock’s throat, “you are never gonna be accepted here. What I’m doing really is trying to help you. C’mon, pointy… Consider this a diplomatic effort. Eat up, it won’t hurt ya.”

Through the contact of their skins, Spock had the regrettable experience of being privy to the haze of Kalabar’s most wretched feelings. The last thing he wanted was to go against his own moral code but at that point, he just needed the whole ordeal over.

“What is– the constitution of the substance?” Spock managed to utter through his constricted airway.

“Eat one or I’ll make you take one like loverboy over there likes taking things.”

Kalibar eased the pressure around his neck and Spock reached a hand inside the bowl. But as soon as his fingers touched the contents a painful bolt shot through him, causing him to cry out and knock the container from Kalibar’s grasp with newfound strength. Spock felt the blood in his veins like molten lava, his breathing so frenzied his mouth was left parted; desperately swallowing large amounts of oxygen.

“You’re a damn freak!” Through his blurred vision, Spock vaguely registered Kalibar stepping backwards from him and then hastily leaving the room as he shouted, “You’re gonna regret this!”

Spock forced himself to sit on his bed and after several minutes, his surroundings finally came into clear focus as he managed to get his breathing under control.

“Shit, Spock. I’m so sorry.” He opened his eyes to Vlahos walking in his direction and Spock suddenly remembered he was still in the room with him.

“Do not touch me,” said Spock through gritted teeth.

“Ok, ok. I’m sorry.” Vlahos backed away and Spock relaxed once more. “What happened?” the cadet asked. “I mean… it was like you were in pain but he didn’t hit you.”

Spock still felt his mind trying to shut away image after image of agony and despair so he really did not wish to explain himself at that moment but, as his logic slowly came back to him, he concluded humans were more likely to abandon an interaction once their curiosity’s had been satisfied.

“Vulcan’s are able to… have psychic energy transference with all living tissue.“

"But… it was just a tiny piece of jerky. Just, ya know, dead meat.”

“To produce that ‘tiny piece of jerky’, animals are born and bred exclusively to be killed. Their suffering is imprinted on the flesh very distinctively. It is faint. But extremely unpleasant.” The utilization of tools when handling food had been an early necessity given Vulcan’s harsh geological conditions and the scarcity of food that didn’t derive from the local fauna, Spock recalled from his lessons in Vulcan history. After the Awakening Time and the advancements of technology, their diet’s became plant-based although the strict custom of manipulating food persisted.

“Right… Jesus, that really must suck.” Vlahos made a motion to sit beside him and, reluctantly, Spock nodded. “I’m sorry for bringing Kalibar here. I didn’t think… I promise I won’t do that again.”

“I do not understand your association with him when he has so little regard for anyone other than himself.” Spock stared at his roommate but the cadet quickly looked away, wringing his hands in his lap.

“Yeah, umm… It’s not like I really have a choice. You know?”

Spock paused, his anger gradually giving away to his mental disciplines. He pondered about his own powerlessness causing him to acquiesce to another’s will. It was something he wished to never have to feel again.

“Indeed I do.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if this has been explained on the series bc I haven't watched all of TOS (working on it!), my brain came up with an explanation though, hope it's not too bad.


End file.
